Ibook g4s / dying out?

is it just me or does there seem to be a noticeably greater number of 'ibook, blue or black screen, hard drive dying, cold restart, etc ...' posts lately? i wonder because my 5 year old machine just gave up the ghost on the weekend. (yes, it was due to that mentioned above.) (i type this from a nice and new and shiny macbook.) are we witnessing a 'critical mass' of faulty parts? i must note however, i replaced my machine gladly because, a. the repairs were too costly, (@$400) and b. i felt that since the g4 has given me nothing but stellar service over the past half decade, i couldn't complain. raymond.

raymond:
Congratulations on your new MacBook! Five happy years with an iBook G4 is great!
iBooks, both G3 and G4 have been plagued with hardware issues, notably a variety of logic board issues. Yes, you see quite a few of them in these forums. Unfortunately the millions of iBook users who have not had issues and are happily computing on their iBooks don't post here, so we hear only of the problems experienced with iBooks, but not of those who are perfectly happy with them.
One of my sons-in-law has an iBook G4 14" 1.33 GHz, and he ran into serious issues with his iBook. After swapping out the HDD a couple of times he passed it to me to see if I could help. I soon found that the ATA Controller failed. The computer works perfectly fine for him booting from an external firewire HDD. On the other hand one of my other daughters also has iBook G4 of the same vintage. Apart from some occasional OS maintenance I do for her, she is perfectly happy with her iBook G4 1.33 GHz. I have a long thread about my son's-in-law iBook in this forum, but not a word about my daughter's. That by way of illustration.
Donating your iBook to be repaired and recycled will extend the happy years you had with it to someone else. What a deal!
cornelius

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it will work but it is not advisable, ibook g3 requires a rating less amperage than the G4 and therefore comes with a 45w power supply (1.85 x 24.5 V) not 65W (2.65 x 24.5). Using the 65W the battery will wear out first and the logic board will be subjected to greater sress reducing life itself

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Hi Jeff,
I am sorry for your troubles with your iBooks. That seems to be very unlikely that you have had such bad problems with your computer. Some things to think about for the future:
#1 I don't know if you did this, but buy AppleCare. It is worth it in the long run even if you don't have a problem. It is better safe then sorry.
#2 Becareful about how you handle your iBook/computer. I am sure you didn't do any damage to your computer, but just think about what could potentially happen. I don't have food or drinks ever near my computer, just incase. Buy as surge protector. It is only a couple of bucks at any electronics store and it is worth it.
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#4 Make sure that the computer's fan is not blocked by anything. The G4 runs hot so you don't want to block the fan from cooling it off. I use the iCurve in my dorm room because it lets cool air around the computer.
#5 Use your sences. Listen for any unusal sounds, like the fan comming on frequently. Notice if anything unusal is going on with your computer. Sometimes when the computer is beging to malfunction you can start to see changes in the way it opperates. If your computer feels extremely hot and is making noises, shut it off let it sit.
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I hope that helps,
Jon
PS It never hurts to write a letter to Apple. I had a problem with Honda and they didn't do anything until I wrote them a letter to the headquarters. We came to an agreement, both of us gave a little.

Ever since I had my screen replaced, my laptop has slowly gone to ****. Half of my songs have been lost, webpages die out, shockwave crashes, and no I can't even sign into my laptop. Who can I contact to get this all fixed?

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How about the people who fixed the screen?

How to update my ibook G4 with out itunes

how to update my ibook G4 with out itunes

Your question begs more questions before an answer...
What are you trying to upgrade, and why would you try to use iTunes
in a vintage G4 computer that cannot run an OS X later than 10.5.8
at best? (and only if it has a processor at least 867MHz or better)
With at least a 1.0GHz iBook G4 you could run Leopard 10.5.8, and
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If the computer does not have at least the minimum processor, it would
not be able to see Leopard as a system, so Tiger 10.4.11 is the last...
http://www.apple.com/support/leopard/
iTunes does not upgrade or update much of anything in an obsolete &/
or vintage Mac OS X before the Intel-Mac era, and prior to OS X 10.6.8.
If your computer does not have an iTunes version at all, you can go to
Apple support downloads and look at older iTunes, and older safari,
and some other bits that are limited to their respective vintage OS X.
Usually the upgrade path utilizes DVD media or CD media, for software
& depending on what kind of software, then later get update-downloads.
To see if there may be anything not already installed in the system or
applications that could exist in the Apple support download servers,
you could see if the System's own Software Update, located in Apple
Menu in upper left side of the menu bar in Finder, can locate some.
If you perform a new install and did not save all the bits as downloaded
from when they were more current, some updates to original media that
formerly were online and available as download (step updates, not full
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OS X system; the remainder of the later or last fixes were in the update.
So, if you have an old G4 PowerPC Mac computer running, say Tiger 10.4.3
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After updating the main system, other applications may also see a need to
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iPhoto, and other applications, such as they were, had updates to their main
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non-intel would be in the last supported OS X, Leopard 10.5.8, and that
version number is iTunes 10.6.3; so you can't visit an App Store or Mac App
Store nor can you run Snow Leopard on a PowerPC architecture Mac.
With the intel-based Mac, and Snow Leopard, you can access the online
Stores to include recent Mac Apps, App Store, iTunes Store, etc. A light
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still plays free music channels. I have several older pre-Intel Macs...
The matter involves the vintage of the device, the system, and limits of the
old vintage/obsoleted configurations where both are interdependent.
Not sure if this helps, but more of a history lesson may be read if you look
into everymac.com and compare models, build years, and other specs...
If you need some feature or function not supported by vintage hardware or
vintage software, or a newer web browser, you have to look further. A fair
browser can be found in TenFourFox. I use it daily in a PPC G4 MINI 1.5GHz.
with Leopard 10.5.8. Plus others. To go further, look into an Intel-based Mac
such as MacBook2.1 & then buy the Snow Leopard retail DVD for about $20.
Hopefully this helps somewhat...
Good luck & happy computing!

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Highly dubious.
They are fairly inexpensive these days. Why not buy the one that meets your needs?
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You think that every year a book has to be written about the exact same subject or something??? You do realize that this isn't going to be very lucrative for the writers.
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Hello enter01,
Can you provide some clarification to your current set up? You said that you were generating a sine wave input. Is that on an AI channel that you're reading, saving, and then outputting? Or are you generating a sine wave to output through AO directly?
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IBook G4 died.... what to do?

My iBook G4 1.2GHz died, presumably because of a small machine screw I discovered that had shaken loose from inside.
At first the computer would just lock randomly, and the display would freeze up with vertical lines. The freezing became more frequent over a couple of days, until finally the computer just refused to power up at all. I attempted to reset PRAM and PMU to no effect.
Now when I attempt to power on there is no chime. I hear the optical drive crank and hard drive spin up, but the screen does not light and there is no further drive activity. The machine is then totally unresponsive unless I reset the PMU again, which then only lets me try to power up again with the same results.
I pulled the hard drive and placed it into an enclosure, it works fine.
Power is getting to the hard drive, optical drive, and keyboard (caps lock light toggles).
Neither the LCD nor external display will show anything
The AC adapter and battery are known to be working, and the symptoms are the same from either power source.
I figured the logic board must have went bad, presumably thanks to that loose screw bouncing around and causing havoc. I can do my own repairs, so I ordered a replacement logic board off eBay. However, after a smooth replacement the iBook exhibited the EXACT same symptoms, except that occasionally the LCD backlight would power up with the replacement logic board.
It appears I have a lemon replacement board from my eBay seller, but my question is whether anything else could caused these symptoms. I can't imagine what that would be though. Any ideas?
Thanks,
-Dan

Dan,
Of course it is possible that you're right about the screw. Where did it come from?
It's a 12"... does this mean both logic boards have fried graphics chips then?
Not necessarily
I never got the chance to see the vertical lines problem with the replacement board since the machine won't boot... no matter which logic board I try now it won't boot.
OK let's look at one at a time
Is the inability to boot, no chime, etc also symptomatic of the failed chip?
Yes but the other problem is possibly U28 on the bottom of the board. Examine that chip carefully with a strong magnifier. Does the soldering look good?
Here Corey does a shim fix:
http://www.coreyarnold.org/ibook/
OK let's go back to the first one and try to boot it with a shim placed on the
ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 4x AGP graphics processor chip.
When you put the book back together it's the one under the heat sink with ATI written on it. It's the last of the three down. Put a piece of cardboard between the heat sink and the chip. Better a thermal pad but for this test the chip doesn't put out that much heat.
The ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 4x AGP has a known failure rate and is infamous in Dell, Sony, IBM and Compaq notebooks. Since you saw lines at one point we're trying to find out if it's the ball grid array that has failed.
Does anyone know if Apple covers this flaw out of warranty?
No they did on the G3s but so far nothing on the G4s except in Denmark.
Richard

Old ibook has died; Can I get my thesis off hard-drive and on to macbook?

Howdy,
My trusty old ibook has finally died (which is understandable; it is some six years old and has been around the world with me, and has served me well)... however, i didn't have the foresight to get some very important files (my thesis among them) backed up elsewhere...
When I attempt to turn on the ibook, the screen stays black, i hear one or two chirps, and then nothing... if i put my ear close, i can hear the extremely soft sound of something spinning (the harddrive, i assume).
I have attempted to access the ibook harddrive by connecting it to my new macbook via firewire and starting up the ibook while pressing "T", but to no avail; it does not appear on the macbook as a disk, or anything at all.
Is there anything else I can try to access the important data on my ibook, and transfer files onto my macbook? Thank you so much for any help and advice... it will be much appreciated!
love,
dewfall

Dewfall:
Ronda's suggestion to try Disk Warrior is a good idea. Actually there are three excellent directory maintenance and repair utilities (including Disk Warrior): Tech Tool Pro, Disk Warrior and DriveGenius
These all do a great job of repairing directories and have revived many a seemingly dead HDD. TechTool Pro and DriveGenius do a number of other things, and even they you purchase one of these and it does not work, it is a good tool to have in your toolkit. I own both TechTool Pro and Disk Warrior and use one or the other at least monthly.
However, your main concern at the moment is to rescue your data, and if the drive is viable at all, placing it in an enclosure and connecting to another mac will help. The directions linked in my earlier post are very explicit and helpful. The enclosure linked there is the best price I have seen anywhere, and it does have the more reliable Oxford 911+ chipset. If you decide to remove the HDD here are few tips you may find helpful:
• Print out the ifixit directions as well as the screw guide ahead of time.
• Be sure you have the right tools. You don't want to damage the screw heads or you may never get them out. And the Torx 8 screw driver is critical.
• I use small medicine cups one for the screws in each step. I nest them so that the last ones out and the first to go back in are on top. You can use an ice cube tray, egg carton, dixie cups etc. (Some users report cutting up the screw guide and placing the applicable section in each container.)
• Be very careful pulling out leads. Hold the lead as close to the plug as possible and wiggle (the plug ) to loosen its grip. Don’t hold the wires and pull as that can damage the cable, or worse, in some instances pull the wires out of the plug. Use needle nose pliers if you can access the plug, or nudge the plug with a small instrument to help loosen its grip.
• Use force gently in removing parts. Separating upper and lower case takes some doing. Use a plastic tool (spudge) so as not to leave marks.
• Refer to the screw guide when reassembling computer. Putting longer screws in the wrong place can perforate the circuit board.
Please do post back should you have further questions or comments.
Cheers
cornelius

My iBook is dying?

Hi, I have an iBook G4. In the last month, it has been having some issues. First of all it started to shutdown randomly, and when it is off, it doesn't start unless I take out the battery.
Also the display when off the other day, but the computer was still on.
Is muy iBook dying?
How can I fix it? If I erase all the data and start all over, would that help?

Tom:
Since you do not specify which iBook you have click here and navigate to your iBook, the click on HD replacement for step by step directions.
In terms of tools, you can get the tools from ifixit. Look in the right sidebar under required tools.
Here are few tips you may find helpful:
• Print out the ifixit directions as well as the screw guide ahead of time.
• Be sure you have the right tools. You don't want to damage the screw heads or you may never get them out. And the Torx screw driver is critical. For a spudge I use the handle of an old toothbrush (choose one made of hard plastic), cut off the brush and bevelled the handle end like a flat blade screw driver).
• Picking up on one user’s suggestion, I clicked on the pages of each step which involved removing screws to enlarge, then printed out the pages. I poked holes in the paper where the screws were removed, poked the screws in the holes and stacked the pages in order in which there were removed. Reassembling was a lot easier. No cups to tip over and spill. No guessing. Each screw was exactly in the right place. You can use an ice cube tray, egg carton, dixie cups etc. I previously used small medicine cups one for the screws in each step. I nested them so that the last ones out and the first to go back in are on top. (Some users report cutting up the screw guide and placing the applicable section in each container.)
• Be very careful pulling out leads. Hold the lead as close to the plug as possible and wiggle (the plug ) to loosen its grip. Don’t hold the wires and pull as that can damage the cable, or worse, in some instances pull the wires out of the plug. Indeed, some users have pulled the socket off the logic board! Use needle nose pliers or tweezers if you can access the plug, or nudge the plug with a small instrument to help loosen its grip.
• Use force gently in removing parts. Separating upper and lower case takes some doing. Use a plastic tool (spudge) so as not to leave marks.
• Refer to the screw guide when reassembling computer. Putting longer screws in the wrong place can perforate the circuit board.
cornelius

IBook G4 video out to MacBook video out

Anyone know of a port adaptor so I don't have to toss all my iBook vidya cables and buy all new stuff? The G4 video out port is smaller than the port on my current MacBook and there's nothing in the Apple Store. Customer service said I'd need a small adaptor from someone like Belkin but looking around has been really frustrating. Especially since the dude at Apple said he couldn't tell me how many pins the difference is.
EDIT: The iBook is a mini VGA 13 pin port and the MacBook is a mini DVI 32 pin port.
Message was edited by: Optimus Primacy
Message was edited by: Optimus Primacy

I tried the store and they told me to try Belkin. The short version is that I want to watch web content on my TV. With my G4, the output was thru a mini-VGA port. The port on my MacBook is a larger mini-DVI port so none of my G4 adaptors and cables work any more.
I don't want to spend a bunch of money on a MacBook to TV adaptor (they usually ship with a new machine but mine is second-hand) and replacing the other Monster cables I bought so I was looking for a cheap way to link my old mini-VGA stuff to the mini-DVI port on my MacBook. It would be a male/female type adaptor.

IBook G4 Wigging out

If this has already been addressed, I apologize. I just wasn't entirely sure how to phrase this to see if anyone else was having this problem. For the past several months, my iBook G4 (2005) has been freaking out at random intervals. What do I mean by that?
I'll be working on it, then out of nowhere brightness will go all the way down, any applications that may be up and running will have items deleted out of it, volume goes all the way up and it types "1qa1qa1qa1qa1qa1qa" over and over again.
I've had it looked at two different times. My logic board is fine. So is the HD. In fact, our certified apple tech in town couldn't find anything wrong internally.
The HD had a 35-pass secure erasure done on it with OS 10.4.3 completely re-installed on it, no old information transferred over. Still freaks out.
Is this a keyboard issue? Any idea how I can fix this? It's kind of bothering me that I'm losing data.

MV,
I'll be working on it, then out of nowhere brightness will go all the way down, any applications that may be up and running will have items deleted out of it, volume goes all the way up and it types "1qa1qa1qa1qa1qa1qa" over and over again
This is a keyboard fault. If you notice the dim, 1, q a are on the same general line. If you could see the activation traces under the keyboard they form a matrix with those things on the same vertical. What generally happens is that something is spilled on the keyboard and these keys get activated via a short.
See which relates to the exact problem you're having. This was in response to someone who had this exact fault only without the dimming:
http://s291.photobucket.com/albums/ll306/spudnuty/?action=view&current=iBookKeyb oardmembrane1QA.jpg&newest=1
This was the effect of a spill on the keyboard. Beer I think:
http://s291.photobucket.com/albums/ll306/spudnuty/?action=view&current=iBookkeyb oardtracecorrosion.jpg&newest=1
So new keyboard.
Richard

IBook G4 blacks out without warning

My sister has an iBook G4 and she tells me that she was reading something on a website and that out of nowhere, it just blacked out. She describes it as "like when someone turns off an old television". I have also tried turning it back on, but that didn't work. I checked the battery and it was at two dots, so that isn't a problem. I don't think that there's anything wrong with the hard drive, the memory, or even the display. I just don't know what happened.
Please give me anything to help fix this problem.
Thank you in advance for any answers.

Hello,
Sounds to me like the logic board has failed or the DC-inboard.
The only option you have is to take it to a Apple repair shop for further diagnostics. Some places including the Apple Store may not look older Mac's now. Really depends on who you see.
Without me physically looking at it, I can't really diagnose it other than being a possible logic board failure.
Sound like you have tried all you can to power on the iBook.
Any further test would require the unit to be taken apart.

Ibook g4s / dying out?

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